Random Thoughts: Alas poor ETF I Knew Him, Horatio

Apologies to Bill Shakespeare

It’s abundantly clear that the Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) has been stripped of its original meaning. The financial industry is now using the term to describe any fund that doesn’t fit the ETF definition, opening the door to more dishonesty. The terms “index fund” and “ETF” are quickly becoming meaningless, much like the “low-fat,” “lite,” and “low sodium” labels on food packaging. These labels are designed to lure people into buying products that don’t live up to their names. Let’s not mince words: we’ve lost the true meanings of these terms, and it’s time to call out the financial industry for their deceptive practices.

Whilst this misappropriation of a perfect pair of definitions took place, I wrote about Lessons Learned Financially ,  More Fun with RDSPs, The Terminal Velocity of a Visa Card Application, how Unemployment numbers may point to a double dip recession (with sprinkles), and Random Thoughts: Short Weeks and Long Weekends.

Lots of roller coaster activity in the world of investments and such. Definitely an interesting week (for August at least).

• Michael James discussed the death knell for the ETF in RIP ETF where he points out that this TLA does not mean what you think any more.
• Speaking of pensions Are You Sure You Have a Pension , is the question the The Star’s James Daw asks, better go check if it snuck out through the cat door last night!
• Preet also points out the ETF Does Not Mean Index , and evidently Index does not mean index either.  ETF could mean Electrical Time Fuse as well, so be careful!
• Borrowing Money to Invest – Is the Strategy Back in Black, only if you are a fan of AC/DC I think, but Money.Smarts does discuss it well.  Back In Black

  is one of my favorite albums.

• The Canadian Capitalist points out that there are Chinese ETFs Trading on the TSX (those are real ETF’s and not the Electrical Fuse type things), but wonders if Canadians should invest there. I am old enough to remember when Made in China meant something cheap, guess times have changed.
• If you didn’t notice the WHO Decalared H1N1 Pandemic Over, so what am I going to do with my “I Survived the 2010 Pandemic” t-shirts I had printed up?!?!?
• What happens when Couch Potatoes Go Bad ? The Canadian Couch Potato asks that, my guess is they grow roots and get kind of fuzzy.
• Ellen Roseman writes about the perils of buying on line with Barb’s Story: Scammed on Paul McCartney tickets , if it’s too good to be true, it usually is.
• How to Calculate Dividend Payout Ratio is a useful post by Million Dollar Journey, that I actually used, and was happy to see how my investments paid out.